For patients with painful finger osteoarthritis, lipofilling a nonsurgical procedure where a patient’s fat is transferred into the arthritic joints, may result in lasting improvements in hand function and especially pain, according to a study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Researchers reported their experience with 18 patients undergoing fat transfer procedures for finger osteoarthritis.
“Even over a long-term follow-up, the transfer of fatty tissue to arthritic fingers joints appears to provide a safe and minimally invasive alternative to conventional surgery for patients with osteoarthritis,” commented the study’s lead author Max Meyer-Marcotty, MD, PhD.
In the lipofilling procedure, a sample of the patient’s own fatty tissue was obtained by liposuction from another part of the body: the upper thigh or hip area. Tiny volumes of lipid cells (< 1mL) were injected into the arthritic finger joints. For recovery, patients wore a splint around the treated finger and took pain relievers for a week. No infections or other complications were recorded.
The researchers analysed follow-up outcomes in a total of 25 finger joints treated by lipofilling. Hand function, pain scores, and patient satisfaction were evaluated an average of 44 months (maximum 50 months) after treatment.
Assessment showed a “highly significant clear improvement” in pain score: from a median of 6 points (on a 10-point scale) before treatment to 0.5 points at follow-up. “We believe that for our patients the reduction of pain represents the most striking and important result, which also has the most pronounced and highly significant effect,” Dr Meyer-Marcotty et al. wrote.
On functional evaluation, pinch grip strength of the treated fingers increased from a median of 2.0kg before lipofilling to 4.3kg at follow-up. Non-significant improvements were seen in fist closure force and score on a standard assessment of hand function during everyday tasks.
In severe cases of osteoarthritis, surgery is effective in relieving arthritis pain, but is associated with potential complications and lengthy recovery time.
Fat transfer procedures have been introduced in recent years for a growing range of purposes in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Animal studies have suggested that mesenchymal stromal cells found in fatty tissues can regenerate tissue in arthritic joints.
“The chance to preserve the joint with a minimally invasive procedure is of particular interest in the early, albeit painful, phases of finger osteoarthritis,” Dr. Meyer-Marcotty added. “Since the lipofilling procedure is nondestructive, conventional joint surgery can still be performed later, if needed.”
Larger long-term follow-up studies are needed to further corroborate these initial positive findings, the researchers said.
Source: EurekAlert!
